HackerNews Digest

The author, an associate teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon, negotiated a technical programming‑project book with a major publisher (2023). The contract specified 115‑500‑word manuscript, 350‑400 pages, 10‑30 illustrations, a $5,000 advance (split on milestones) and royalties of 12 % (print/e‑book ≤ 7,000 copies) rising to 15 % thereafter, plus 50 % on foreign translations. Benefits cited for publishers included structured progress, logistics, distribution, and credibility; drawbacks were frequent nudging, editorial control, low royalties, and limited marketing. Drafts were required every 3–4 weeks, using AsciiDoc/Word, with an editor enforcing a style guide and repeatedly urging simplification and an introductory Python chapter. After ChatGPT’s release, the publisher insisted on AI content, which the author rejected. Persistent deadline misses, editorial turnover, and personal events (job change, wedding) led to a “freeze” request and eventual contract termination, returning rights to the author. He now considers self‑publishing or posting the material as blog posts.

The author argues that “privacy” is often misunderstood and should be reframed as “control” over digital identity, emphasizing that most users’ threat models focus on who can influence their information consumption, advertising exposure, and political persuasion. Based on a personal threat model, the author recommends a set of tools and practices: - **Password management:** Use a self‑hosted solution such as GNU pass to avoid third‑party storage; Bitwarden is suggested for a richer UI. - **Messaging:** Prefer Signal over platforms like WhatsApp; Venmo is disabled. - **Mobile OS:** Run GrapheneOS on Android to sandbox apps, restrict permissions, and optionally disable the Play Store and location services, which also improves battery life. - **Email:** Operate a personal domain (e.g., [user]@example.com) and use Tuta for secure, affordable email without self‑hosting. - **Web browsing:** Firefox with Privacy Badger and uOrigin to block tracking; social media accessed only via containerized browsers. - **Calendars/contacts:** Self‑host CalDAV on a Raspberry Pi (sabre.io/baikal) and sync via DAVx⁵. - **Domain registration & DNS:** Use Cloudflare Registrar for lower renewal costs and Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS, citing perceived alignment of incentives. The post cites recent articles on Facebook’s covert Snapchat monitoring and Meta/Yandex de‑anonymizing Android browsing as context for the security concerns.

The script explains how compilers transform source code—parsing, type‑checking, optimizing, and generating output—and why treating them as allies prevents runtime failures. It contrasts ahead‑of‑time compilation (e.g., Rust’s ownership and borrow checking that eliminate memory‑safety bugs) with just‑in‑time compilation in Java, where bytecode is later optimized by the JVM, and transpilation in TypeScript, which adds a structural type system to JavaScript while preserving gradual typing. The discussion highlights self‑hosting and bootstrapping as milestones for language maturity. The second part critiques common “lies” developers tell compilers: treating nullable values as non‑null, ignoring unchecked exceptions, and using unsafe casts. These practices hide runtime hazards from static analysis, leading to NullPointerExceptions, unexpected exceptions, and brittle code. Emphasizing accurate compile‑time information—precise types, nullability annotations, and avoiding casts—lets the compiler enforce safety and improves reliability across codebases of any size.